For the last few years, Jennifer and Tim Hegseth of Northfield, Minn., wanted to correct the course on their family's lifestyle, but they didn't know how to switch gears.

Jennifer, 46, is an airline pilot who is on the road three days a week. When she's gone, her husband, Tim, 47, who works full-time, shuttles their children, Sam, 11, and Ella, 7, to all their after-school activities including various sports.

In the past, Tim often grabbed fast-food meals or whipped up quick frozen dinners for himself and the kids. He has a sedentary job and rarely found time to exercise. Jennifer tried to go to the hotel gyms when she was away from home, but it wasn't enough physical activity to keep her weight in check.

By late December the couple felt out of shape and overweight and wanted themselves and their kids to make some changes. "I want my family to get moving," Jennifer said at the time. "I must pass a medical exam every year for my job and would like to improve my diet and exercise so that my health is not a concern for my career.

"Our family is in a rut with eating," she said. "We get a lot of processed food and fast food in our diets. I wish we could get in more fruits and vegetables."

So the Hegseths volunteered to participate in this year's Family Fitness Challenge, an initiative to help families across the country get more active — and lose weight. The ongoing project is being produced in partnership with USA WEEKEND Magazine and The Doctors TV show.

More than 400 families applied to take part in the challenge. Six families were chosen, including the Hegseths, and they were paired with a fitness expert with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and a registered dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The families have been working closely with their professionals since early January.

The Family Fitness Challenge features six families aiming to make lifestyle changes.(Photo: USA TODAY)

On the fitness front, the Hegseths have really stepped up their game, including:

• Wearing pedometers to keep track of how many steps they take each day. "I absolutely love it," Jennifer says. "Since I started wearing one in mid-January, I have gotten more than 10,000 steps (the amount recommended by health experts) almost every day."

• Taking two- to three-mile walks in the hallways of the local high school. "Sam and I go to the high school every Friday and walk," she says. "We talk about his week at school. It's definitely a bonding time.

"Outside walking right now is limited due to cold and the ice," she says.

• Doing their favorite exercise DVDs. They like ones that are simple and don't have a lot of dancing or complex moves, she says. "Our family seems to lack rhythm."

• Are making better use of the treadmill, elliptical, gymnastic exercise bar, suspension trainer, free weights and jump ropes in their basement. "If all of us are down there, we do a circuit so that everyone does a different activity for 10 minutes at a time," she says.

The kids really like working out, Tim says. One night recently they kept "bugging me about going downstairs to work out."

People often say they can't find the time to exercise because they are so busy, Jennifer says. "We took away some screen time to do this as a family. So now we have more face time while we're exercising."

She says they ask each other questions about their day as they're working out.

Their exercise instructor Mark Neumann, an ACSM health fitness specialist, has been cheering them on and pushing them to work out harder. "They have an elliptical trainer, a treadmill and a dog that needs walking. I expect great results from them."

The family also has been working with Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He says they are making changes "the right way — slow and steady and as a family. That's great for their health, and it's essential for staying motivated and on track."

When it comes to their eating habits, the Hegseths now:

• Limit dining out. They used to eat out four or five times a week but have reduced that to one meal a week. When they do go out, they split two meals instead of ordering four.

• Plan ahead more so they can whip up quick dinners such as beef barley soup, made in a slow cooker, served with turkey sandwiches, or chicken tacos with a salad and no chips.

• Eat smaller portions. "Sometimes instead of using the dinner plate, we'll use a salad plate so that we don't try to load up a big plate," Jennifer says.

"We're eating much healthier than we ever have, and our exercise has quadrupled," she says. "We do something every single day. I have so much more energy."

Jennifer has lost 10 pounds in five weeks; Tim has lost 20.

She's glad they're not resorting to a fad diet. "You lose the weight, and it comes right back on. I'd rather do it slowly, and do it in a way we will keep it off. I want the kids to learn to eat healthy.

Tim Hegseth, 47, works as a technical support representative for an equipment manufacturer and retailer. He stands 6 feet tall. His weight in mid-January was 305 pounds. His current weight is 285. His long-term goal: "I don't have a specific end-weight number," he says. His fitness goal is to walk some 5Ks this spring. (Photo: Courtney Perry for USA TODAY)

Jennifer Hegseth, 46, is an airline pilot who is on the road three days a week. She stands 5-foot-4. Her weight in early January was 177 pounds. Her current weight is 167 pounds; her long-term goal is 145 pounds. Her fitness goal is to walk some 5Ks. (Photo: Courtney Perry for USA TODAY)

Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian, is helping the Hegseths with the Family Fitness Challenge. He says they are making changes "the right way -- slow and steady and as a family. That's great for their health, and it's essential for staying motivated and on track." (Photo: Handout)

Mark Neumann is a fitness specialist consulting with the Hegseths for the Family Fitness Challenge. "They have an elliptical trainer, a treadmill and a dog that needs walking. I expect great results from them," he says. (Photo: Handout)